The Unusual
by GalaxyOnAWhim
Summary: I'll keep it simple, Keroro isn't acting like himself. That might be a good thing or a bad thing. So, who's going to find out the reason why? It might already be obvious but read and see for yourself! (Disclaimer: Characters all belong to Mine Yoshizaki, not me!)


Today wasn't like any other day in the Hinata household for there was something off in the atmosphere. Usually, a certain leader would be getting scolded by a certain girl for not doing the chores this certain leader had to do. Or maybe this certain leaders best bud, who is obsessed with all things supernatural, would be hanging out with him right now. Or maybe this certain leader- screw it- green, idiotic fool himself would be lazing around, reading manga, watching his favorite show, browsing the internet, or making an invasion plan that will never work like all the other past ones. Well, none of that was happening, everything was way more quiet than it should be. What's going on?

If it wasn't obvious, this certain leader... the green, idiotic fool... was Keroro and let me just say he wasn't acting like Keroro.

Here's the thing, Natsumi and Fuyuki were both out on a school field trip where their classes have to find information about rocks, animals, plants, and a lot of other things about mother nature. They would be gone for a whole week so that left Keroro and Aki. But, Aki has to stay overnight at her job because the deadline for a new manga chapter is right around the corner so she doesn't have time to go home. Because of that, Keroro is on his own to take care of the house like he would usually do in these types of situations. But like I mentioned before, he wasn't acting like himself so what was he doing?

Being quiet. That's it, he was quiet. I'm not sure why! So, let's start this story for real and hope that the mystery will be solved, but who's gonna solve it? (Alright, alright, I'll stop with the questions, let the story tell itself!)

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Giroro was doing his good ol' routine of cleaning his weapons while enjoying the great outdoors with his fellow feline ally beside him. He was, for once, in a good mood but couldn't figure out the real reason why. He doesn't like to admit it, but he usually dislikes Natsumi being gone for so long because he won't be able to gaze upon her beautiful, hazel eyes, her silk, pink hair, and her loud, confident voice scolding Keroro for not doing crap. But, maybe he was okay this time around because nothing was happening. No loud noises, no unwanted trouble, no annoying leader forcing everyone in the platoon to listen to his "amazing invasion plan that will work for sure this time, I swear!" speech. It was nice.

Wait.

There was no Keroro.

With everyone gone, Keroro would be doing his usual chores. Right around this time of day he would be hanging up everyone's clothes while humming his favorite tune and trying to make a conversation with Giroro. There was no noise whatsoever coming from inside the house. Strange as this day already was, Giroro felt a bit concerned, he knew something wasn't right. So, he decided he should check on Keroro and see if he's in his room. When he stood up, the cat meowed, slightly bothered that her peaceful sleep was interrupted and watched Giroro walk in the house.

'He probably slept in.' Giroro thought as he went down the ladder to get to Keroro's room. He didn't bother to think what Kururu was doing, probably doing his usual little hobbies that Giroro wishes to never know about.

Once Giroro opened the door, he saw Keroro in his bed laying down with the blanket covering his face and body. Giroro sighed.

'I was right.'

Showing a little irritation in his actions, Giroro went up to the bed and tried to shake him awake.

"Oi, Keroro, get up, I know you got things to do and I'm not in the mood to hear Natsumi sound so hopelessly frustrated by your laziness for the millionth time." Almost every single day Natsumi has to scold Keroro in some ways. Whether it be an invasion plan, him not doing his chores because he's building a gundam... or both. Giroro wonders how Natsumi can deal with him every single day and then he remembers how he has to deal with him just as much. Keroro slightly jumps from the sudden shaking he's now receiving. He then removes the blanket that was covering his face with an expression Giroro doesn't usually see on his leader.

"Then go somewhere else when she comes back." Keroro replied with a surprisingly stern tone. He then put the blanket back over his face with nothing else to say.

Giroro got taken aback by that sudden statement, mostly shocked by the way Keroro said it. Keroro sounded as serious as he would when he wanted- for once- to act like he _was_ in authority. The kind of tone Giroro actually likes to follow through with, to do what his leader ordered. The leader who's actually confident with a plan he has in mind, who wouldn't treat a situation like it was some joke. The leader Giroro actually trusts in with no doubt in his mind. I mean, Giroro still trusts Keroro when he's acting like his usual self but it's just so much more annoying to deal with, very much annoying. What bothered Giroro at the moment, though, was why Keroro was acting like this now just out of the blue. He stared at him, wondering what he should say. He isn't the best with handling his emotions or anyone else's feelings in general and in a situation like this he wasn't sure what _to_ say, y'know? He wouldn't simply talk to Keroro normally when he acted like this. So, he decided to just ask what's wrong and see what happens? Gosh, this is confusing.

"Uh….. are you okay?" Giroro asked, feeling very awkward all of a sudden. He hates feeling like this, it's as if he's some weak child confronting a parent or something. There was silence that felt like it went on forever, no reply. Giroro was thinking he should maybe leave but then he heard an irritated sigh.

"I'm such a horrible person." Keroro simply stated.

Once again there's silence. Giroro, even more confused, just stared at the green frog. Is this even Keroro anymore? Keroro always likes to show off how "awesome, talented, amazing, and charming" he is to the point where even Tamama, who everyone can tell has a thing for "his sergeant," gets annoyed by it. But now all of a sudden he just… put himself down? What? So many things were going through Giroro's mind. The only time he saw Keroro this "empty" was when he first went to school. He got bullied but only for the first week because he was acting cocky like he is now and he didn't care. Until… someone said he couldn't be like his dad, that he's not good enough to even try. That made him shut up and be distant for at least two weeks. He got better when Giroro started hanging out with him everyday after school because his dad told him to and later on Dororo joined them. When Keroro's dad found out about the bullying… lets just say Keroro didn't get bullied anymore. After that, Keroro never got that depressed and distant ever again. Until now. Giroro isn't used to comforting anyone at all so should he even try?

"Okkkaayyy…" was all that came out of Giroro's mouth and he mentally smacked himself. He can't do this crap. He feels like he shouldn't leave either because at the end of the day Keroro is his friend, he can't leave him like this. But liKe HoW iS hE sUppOSeD TO coMFort hIM? Now he's probably overthinking this a bit _too_ much. ABORT MISSION?

Keroro suddenly sat up and that made Giroro knock him out of his overbearing thoughts. Keroro waved him off as to tell him it's nothing serious.

"Sorry, I'm not acting like myself." Keroro sighs while looking down.

'As if it wasn't obvious.' Giroro thought.

"It's just," Keroro continued "I realized how stupid, lazy, and self-centered I actually am!" He quickly turns his head to look at Giroro. "I even forget about Dororo, Giroro!"

"Everybody does-" Giroro tried to say but then Keroro cuts him off.

"That's not the point!" Keroro snapped but quickly recovered, looking down at his hands. "Sorry… I just feel like I'm not fit for this, I mean, all the invasion plans I make fail instantly. It's like I never try anymore all because I'm so lazy and an idiot!.. or I lack confidence...I don't know..." He starts to mumble things Giroro can't comprehend. Giroro can't believe what he just heard… his leader is finally realizing this now? Okay, that was kind of rude. He noticed how Keroro is now starting to list many flaws about himself so fast Giroro doesn't have any chance to try to say something. Once again, stuck on what to do he then heard Keroro clearly this time.

"They were right…" Keroro whispered. Giroro, shocked, instantly replied.

"Who?" He looked straight at his childhood friend. Keroro got surprised by the sudden voice and turned to face Giroro, he got so lost in his thoughts he forgot Giroro was there.

"Uh-" Keroro tried to say something but Giroro cut him off this time.

"What? Those kids a long time ago? Do you still think about that!?"

"Well, _no_ \- I mean, yeah? I mean-" Keroro just sat there, realizing that the words from those kids still stuck to him, it hit him that hard, huh? Giroro felt frustrated all of a sudden.

"Look, I say this many times already but yeah, you are an idiot... but you're not _stupid_! _"_ Giroro blurted out. Keroro looked at him in confusion.

"That's… that's literally the same thing." Keroro remarked. Giroro now felt dumbfounded.

"No! I mean, okay." He took a break to think through his words. Like I mentioned millions of times, he doesn't know what the heck he's doing. He took a deep breath and continued.

"You are self-centered, lazy, and I'm starting to believe you are treating this invasion as some silly joke-"

"Noted." Keroro replied nonchalantly.

" _But_ ," Giroro began. "As much as I don't like to admit this -and to even imagine I would- I think… you're a great leader." He mentally cringes by what he just said. What are feelings again and how do you convey them _and_ keep your manly pride? Keroro simply looks at him, assuming Giroro has more to say. Giroro looks down to the floor to avoid eye contact which really makes him want to punch his own stomach.

"I can tell you genuinely care about the invasion and, for the most part, once you get a plan, you go all out on it. Regardless on what some of us may think, you still believe it can work. Whether I get annoyed by it or not, I can't say I don't admire that…" Giroro trails off, looks up and sees Keroro intently staring at him. It's rare to see him look this serious.

"Do you really mean that?" Keroro questioned.

"...Of course…" Giroro mumbled, feeling very embarrassed. He mentally noted that he'll go to the training room after this to shoot something so he can feel like a man again. Keroro just looked at Giroro, looked down, looked at Giroro again, and then proceeded to do that for a good whole minute. Then, without hesitation, Keroro jumped up and stood on his bed with that familiar gleam in his eyes and looked down to Giroro who just jumped a bit by the sudden movement.

"Of course I am, de arimasu!" Keroro beamed and pointed to Giroro. "I was just saying those things so I can test you!"

Giroro, at first, was confused by the quick change of personality but then after comprehending what Keroro said, he felt an urge to hit him on the friggin' head.

Ah.

Keroro's back.

With that, Giroro sighed with relief… wait he was relieved? He shook his head to hopefully make that feeling go away and then glared at Keroro.

"Tested me on what?" Giroro chided. Keroro did one of those "on contraire" kind of laughs which made Giroro roll his eyes.

"Just to make sure you know how grateful you are to have a leader such as I, gero gero gero!" Keroro chimed with pride.

"Uh-huh." Giroro responded, unconvinced. He then thought of an idea that could be amusing. So, he took out his gun and aimed it at Keroro who now looked terrified.

"Actually, I take back everything I said. Stand still." Giroro demanded. Keroro then started to panic and look around rapidly, trying to figure out what to do.

"Y'know, I just remembered I have a lot of chores to take care of, so I should probably get started with that, hehe." Keroro exclaimed while leaving his room in haste. Once Keroro left the room, Giroro put his gun away and smiled. He then left the room and headed back to his tent. Once outside, he saw the cat, who had not moved from her spot whatsoever, and sat next to her. He picked up one of his weapons and started to clean it. Keroro, who was actually doing his chores, went outside to hang up the clothes. Like usual, he hummed his favorite tune while doing so. After awhile he turned around.

"Hey, Giroro?"

"Hm?" Giroro looked up to see another unusual face, more genuine this time.

"...Thanks…"

"Yeah, you're welcome." Giroro quickly looked down and went back to his cleaning while Keroro went back to his chores and started to hum to break the awkwardness.

As weird as this day already was, Giroro, for once, felt happy that his friend was back to normal.


End file.
